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Sunday, June 24, 2007

Kiss & Blog by Alyson Noel

Winter and Sloane have been best friends since about the third grade and for most of their lives they have been nobodies in school. The summer before their sophomore year they make a pact to change that. They do makeovers and study everything they need to know to be popular. When school starts and it's time to put everything they learned to practice, Winter is just a little bit more hesitant, feeling that it all seems just a little too fake. Sloane, though, fits right in and soon she ditches Winter to win a spot on the cheerleading squad. Betrayed by her one and only friend, Winter runs away to New York to stay with her dad and soon realizes that it's better to be herself, an individual, than a fake clone. In New York she also gets introduced to Blogs and the power to express her opinion online. When she returns home she meets Rey, a new boy in her life who helps her find real friends, and starts a blog where she exposes all of Sloane's secrets. While Winter struggles with her growing feelings for Rey, she also deals with the pain of discovering Sloane's true, disloyal character.

This was a nice read. Winter was a genuine character that you could relate to, especially Sloane's betrayal. Noel did a good job exposing the true pain that can come from losing one's only friend and subsequent lifeline in the rough world of high school. Revenge online is a bit genius, especially how Winter never reveals names. I found the sudden popularity of her website a little unbelievable. There is so much out there that for it to take flight, to the point that she's offered a book deal, seems just a little too good to be true. But what do you expect from a work of fiction. I was also disappointed in the lack of repercussions in Winter's offense. What she did was big, but not much punishment came from what she did, let alone much remorse. Then again, maybe that's just a comment being made about the characters and Sloane's inability to be original. Either way, this was an enjoyable book.MMK